Características da pessoa idosa indicativas da necessidade de cuidados paliativos na Atenção Básica

Abstract

In the context of the progressive global population aging and mainly Brazilian population, the request for palliative care is considered a current public health problem. To describe the characteristics of the elderly that indicates the need for palliative care in primary health care is the objective of this quantitative, observational and descriptive study, conducted at the home of 55 elderly people attended by a Family Health Unit located in a city in the Northeast, from June 7 to July 8 of 2019. To collect data used a form with questions related to sociodemographic and health characteristics will also be applied as Katz, Geriatric Depression and Mini Mental Examination scales. Data were analyzed by software and presented in tables form. The results showed that 60% of the elderly were female, 65,5% illiterate, 56,4% were in the age group of 60 to 69 years, had no cognitive deficit or depressive symptoms, 76,4% were independent to perform basic activities of daily living, 67,3% reported frequent pain, 96,4% reported comorbidities, hypertension prevailed and 21,8% used polypharmacy. It was concluded that the presence of comorbidities and pain were the indicative characteristics of palliative care in the elderly attended at primary care, indicated by this rapidly growing population, it already needs these care.